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Tangentially related the son of the shop owner I used to wrench for is now on ineos grenadiers. Kid grew up with access to the best cycling equipment he could want.
point of order...
*Netcompany INEOS
Nah man, Ineos Grenadiers, just like it's Jumbo Visma, Bora Hansgroh, and Trek-Segafredo
Seems like sram has a new dropper lever+flight attendant button combo. Comes on the new scott spark models that has flight attendant but no axs dropper. For example, Specializeds Epic 8/9 pro models with flight attendant and wired dropper, just comes without a pod for the flight attendant, which I always thought was strange.
Hey, even two-time XCO overall winner Cadel Evans took a while to get comfortable riding in the bunch and then look what happened.
Jay Vine comes to mind as the rider who was picked up based on his Zwift performances and he's been pretty successful. I'm sure he isn't alone.
You thinking of Jay Vine? Not a low-level contract though, he's on UAE's A-squad.
Last fall, I noticed that some Shimano factory-supported teams had riders still rocking the M9120 lever over the new M9220, and I'm still seeing it today. Guys like Luke-MS on Giant and Ryan G of Yeti in enduro, and other random bikes in pit videos. What could the explanation for this be? For all intents and purposes, the M9220 is a better, updated version, so what reasons could there be not to make the swap?
Like, when Mavens came out, it felt overnight that everyone was using them, and we haven't (and won't) see a Code RSC on any of those bikes ever again.
Found another pic. Seems to be a two-part solution from Sram. So a button to control the FA; with a matchmaker mount so you can mount any mechanical dropper lever combined with it. Guessing some XC people might be interested in this, wanting to run a lighter dropper but still run FA

The M9220 has a lever which sits at a slight upswept angle to the bar, why I always thought was a bit weird. Maybe the riders prefer the flat lever shape of the M9120.
That's also because Codes were god awful and the sram riders were so happy to get on an actual brake.
I recently felt some older codes on some bikes I was dealing with and they were shockingly worse than I remembered. Say what you will about Shimano brakes, but they've been consistently good for a while.
Not a fan of the ID on that one. Makes me wanna get googly eye stickers and slap em on the piston bore surfaces. But now that I type that, I'm inclined to buy em just for that. Just hope they don't use the Venom oil they had with their first foray into mineral oil. That stuff was a beeeeach to clean off.
As a mostly analogue rider who also has an ebike, I was surprised at how rude, even nasty, a lot of guys on regular bikes are—even when you're as polite as possible trying to pass them on an ebike. Before I had an ebike, my buddies and I would kind of snicker at ebikers after they passed, but never to their face. I figured I'd see some of this once I got one, but I was surprised at how rude some "analogue" riders are for no reason, and how often it happens. It's pretty much an every-other-ride occurrence, which is wild. Every time I pull out the ebike, I have to program myself to be extra non-confrontational and extra polite. I've talked to other riders who've had the same experience.
I guess my point is that it cuts both ways. Unfortunately, there are just rude people out there regardless of how polite you try to be when you're on an ebike.
I’ve watched my friend get pushed into a tree and also pushed off the trail. Two different e-bikers on the same ride. He doesn’t like e-bikes and now I get it. You may not realize the precedent that other ebike riders have set before you cross paths with an analog rider
Excuse my French, but could we fucking please stop calling bikes "analog", "acoustic", or -the worst I've heard- "bio"?
Bikes are bikes. Ebikes are something else.
Now get off my fucking lawn you punks!
I recently picked up an epic evo with codes on it, and was like holy fuck how did we ride these on DH/enduro bikes it can barely slow down this 28 lb XC bike on hiking trails. Came home and put some dominions on the next day.
It’s honestly more shocking that a few people didn’t switch over mid season.
Yeah the terms are disgusting. I call normal bike “free-range-non-gmo-organic-grass-finished bikes.”
amish biker says what?
I did not actually know how bad the Codes on my V10 were until I replaced them with GR4s
Mitosis bike or nothing.
Rode codes on a park rental last month, good bleed, 220 front rotor, but they just require so much more force at the lever to get the power needed compared Shimanos or mavens. Most cooked my hands/arms have been in a long time.
'Member when people said RSC is better than Saint? I 'member.
Guess SRAM had to make an actually good brake for code users to come to terms with the fact they aren't very good brakes 🤔
Yea, that's true, but the M8220 XT lever doesn't, and I'm pretty sure otherwise they are identical to the M9220. Could run that with the new mineral oil and essentially have the new set up.
My 2017 Kona Operator came with SRAM Guide R brakes. Codes were amazing in comparison to those.
But can you still eat 8 bananas in one breath ?
I think they were...for the time though. Remember the Code RSC was launched in 2017. Before the Hayes Dominion, TRP DH-R Evo/Evo Pro, Hope T4V4. This was Shimano Saint, and TRP Quadiem times people
I like my codes. They slow me down. And by that I mean I can’t stop. 🤘
But the Saints were and are better than the Codes, and they haven't changed since 2012
Saints are still right up there with the best for power. Racing codes must have been a huge disadvantage.
I'd guess personal preference, Shimano not pressuring riders to run specific products, and having a variety of reliable options to choose from rather than going from a brake that barely works to an absolute monster. In theory, you'd assume that Shimano would want everyone on Saint brakes for dh, but you only see a handful of riders running them anymore. Then there were the handful of riders mixing XTR with Saint for the feel.
My understanding is that Sram wasn't happy that so many riders didn't switch over to the Pods when they were released, and people were internally motivated to make the switch sooner than later. Now you'd be hard-pressed to find any higher-profile Sram rider on the original AXS shifter. I'll exclude Jordan Williams from the list only because the Gravity team isn't a "Sram" team.
How many Magura riders are running Gustavs? Are there any major teams running Magura? All the Magura sponsored riders I know either never made the switch, or went back to the MT7.
On another note, Richie Rude said on WynTV that he's on a new, bigger bike. So... should mean a new mold. Shall we raise our hopes that we may see the Yeti DH for sale in limited numbers before 2030? 😆
unsure if been posted but that saint derailleur and Direct-mount Crank looks production ready.
Surely that derailleur has a clutch.................
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